Imperial College London
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Dr Tolga Bozkurt

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Reader in Molecular Plant-Microbe
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5381o.bozkurt

 
 
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Location

 

6167Sir Alexander Fleming BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Zess:2021:10.1101/2021.10.04.463104,
author = {Zess, EK and Dagdas, YF and Peers, E and Maqbool, A and Banfield, MJ and Bozkurt, TO and Kamoun, S},
doi = {10.1101/2021.10.04.463104},
title = {Regressive evolution of an effector following a host jump in the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Lineage},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.04.463104},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In order to infect a new host species, the pathogen must evolve to enhance infection and transmission in the novel environment. Although we often think of evolution as a process of accumulation, it is also a process of loss. Here, we document an example of regressive evolution in the Irish potato famine pathogen (<jats:italic>Phytophthora infestans</jats:italic>) lineage, providing evidence that a key sequence motif in the effector PexRD54 has degenerated following a host jump. We began by looking at PexRD54 and PexRD54-like sequences from across<jats:italic>Phytophthora</jats:italic>species. We found that PexRD54 emerged in the common ancestor of<jats:italic>Phytophthora</jats:italic>clade 1b and 1c species, and further sequence analysis showed that a key functional motif, the C-terminal ATG8-interacting motif (AIM), was also acquired at this point in the lineage. A closer analysis showed that the<jats:italic>P. mirabilis</jats:italic>PexRD54 (PmPexRD54) AIM appeared unusual, the otherwise-conserved central residue mutated from a glutamate to a lysine. We aimed to determine whether this PmPexRD54 AIM polymorphism represented an adaptation to the<jats:italic>Mirabilis jalapa</jats:italic>host environment. We began by characterizing the<jats:italic>M. jalapa</jats:italic>ATG8 family, finding that they have a unique evolutionary history compared to previously characterized ATG8s. Then, using co-immunoprecipitation and isothermal titration calorimetry assays, we showed that both full-length PmPexRD54 and the PmPexRD54 AIM peptide bind very weakly to the<jats:italic>M. jalapa</jats:italic>ATG8s. Through a combination of binding assays and structural modelling, we showed that the identity of the residue at the position of the PmPexRD54 AIM polymorphism can underpin high-affinity binding to plant ATG8s. Finally, we conclude that th
AU  - Zess,EK
AU  - Dagdas,YF
AU  - Peers,E
AU  - Maqbool,A
AU  - Banfield,MJ
AU  - Bozkurt,TO
AU  - Kamoun,S
DO  - 10.1101/2021.10.04.463104
PY  - 2021///
TI  - Regressive evolution of an effector following a host jump in the Irish Potato Famine Pathogen Lineage
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.04.463104
ER  -
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